Former 'encounter specialist' Pradeep Sharma - who eliminated 113 criminals during his career as a cop - is the main conspirator behind the murder of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiren, whose gelatin stick-laden SUV and threat note was parked near the home of the Ambani family in Mumbai.
Besides Sharma, dismissed Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze funded the entire plot and paid Rs 45 lakh for the murder, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in an affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court.
Often referred to as ‘Mumbai’s Dirty Harry’, Sharma, who had taken VRS and joined Shiv Sena to unsuccessfully contest the Vidhan Sabha polls, had eliminated 113 criminals including gangsters, underworld dons, terrorists and sharpshooters during his three-decade career.
“Pradeep Sharma was an active member of a gang that had conspired to terrorise people, including the Ambani family, and murdered Mansukh Hiren as he was a weak link in the conspiracy, " the NIA said in the affidavit, which was filed in response to the bail plea of the former cop.
A division bench comprising Justice A S Chandurkar and Justice G A Sanap has kept the petition for hearing in July.
Sharma, who was arrested on June 17, 2021, is currently in judicial custody and lodged in a jail.
On the intervening night of February 24-25, 2021, a Scorpio SUV with 20-odd gelatin sticks and a threatening letter was parked outside Shikhar Kunj building on the Carmichael Road, near Antilia, the residence of the Reliance Group Chairman Mukesh Ambani.
The original number plate of the Mahindra Scorpio bearing MH-02-AY-2815 was replaced with a fake number MH-01-DK-9945, which is actually a number of Range Rover that was part of security detail of Reliance Foundation Chairperson Nita Ambani.
Hiren went missing on March 4 and his body was found the next day at the Reti-bunder in Mumbra-Kalwa area of Thane.
The investigation were taken over by the NIA from the Anti-Terrorism Squad and Maharashtra Police - and a total of 10 persons have been arrested in the sensational case that shook the Maha Vikas Aghadi government with opposition BJP raising the issue.
“When Hiren refused to take blame for the crime, Vaze hatched a conspiracy with Sharma and the other accused to kill Hiren so that he (Hiren) does not divulge that Vaze was the one who parked the vehicle outside Antilia," the NIA affidavit states.